Jon Huntsman Jr. comes from a distinguished family. His ancestors have been key figures in religion and his father was White House Secretary for President Richard Nixon. The senior Huntsman also founded the Huntsman Corporation. Abby Huntsman, Jon Jr.'s daughter, is a popular television personality.
Huntsman Jr. has made a name for himself in his own right. Especially in politics and diplomacy. Currently, he's about to leave a high-profile post, possibly to try for another one.
Has resigned as U.S. Ambassador to Russia
Huntsman was appointed as ambassador to Russia by President Donald Trump in 2017.
He's often been cited as a stabilizing force in the near-constant tumult of Trump's administration. The diplomatic post has been of especial interest lately given tensions between the two countries.
As Axios reports, Huntsman cited his and his wife's 'growing family and responsibilities at home' in his resignation letter. But there may well be other reasons. For one, Huntsman announced that he was diagnosed with skin cancer last year. And there was likely tension of some sort between Huntsman and Trump. There often has been between the president and those who might try to curtail his more reckless impulses.
The examples have been many. Trump's first two chiefs of staff. His first secretary of state, his first secretary of defense, his first attorney general.
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan. U.S. Senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake. The list could go on.
Another possible reason still is that Huntsman is considering running for his old job as governor of Utah. CNN reports that he's undecided on the matter.
He was previously elected governor twice
Huntsman was first elected governor in 2004.
He was re-elected in 2008 with nearly 80 percent of the vote. A few months into his second term, he resigned. He was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama as U.S. Ambassador to China. It was widely thought that this effectively ruled out a 2012 presidential bid by Huntsman. But he resigned as ambassador in 2011 to run for the Republican nomination nonetheless.
The run was not successful.
His lieutenant governor, Gary Herbert, succeeded him as governor and has been elected to two terms since. But Herbert has announced that he will not run for re-election in 2020.
In total, Huntsman has worked for six consecutive presidents, both Republican and Democratic. He was a staff assistant at the White House during the Reagan administration. President George H.W. Bush appointed him as U.S. ambassador to Singapore in 1992. He was the youngest U.S. ambassador in more than a century. Huntsman stayed on into the Clinton administration. From 2001 to 2003, he was Deputy U.S. Trade Representative under President George W. Bush.